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  • The Invisible Library

  • The Invisible Library, Book 1
  • By: Genevieve Cogman
  • Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
  • Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (558 ratings)
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The Invisible Library cover art

The Invisible Library

By: Genevieve Cogman
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
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Summary

One spy. One dangerous book. One deadly mission. The first in a gripping, fantasy mystery series, The Invisible Library is the astounding debut from Genevieve Cogman.

Irene must be at the top of her game or she'll be off the case – permanently . . .

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission – to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested – the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.

Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option – the nature of reality itself is at stake.

Continue the journey with the second adventurous title in the The Invisible Library series, The Masked City. Genevieve is also the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Scarlet - which reimagines the tale of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but with vampires, mages and magic . . .

©2015 Genevieve Cogman (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

A dazzling bibliophilic debut (Charles Stross, author of the Laundry Files, including The Atrocity Archives)

It's a breath of fresh air (Guardian)

What listeners say about The Invisible Library

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

New Narration makes all the difference!

I bought this book a couple of years back and couldn’t listen for more than 5minutes I ended up returning it. I noticed it had been updated with a new narrator so gave it another go…what a difference! Great book for lovers of Jodi Taylor/Jasper Fforde and the like

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A new narrator gives the story a huge boost.

I have long enjoyed this series of books, but sadly, like many others, was put off buying many of the first Audible versions thanks to a poor narrator. I hate being so negative about a person who will have done their best, but it was a shame the narration let down the overall audio version.

Now the early books are being re-released using the narrator who took over reading the later books in the series, and the difference is amazing. Truly, having better narration lifts the whole book to a much more enjoyable level.

The book is a mix of emotions, from fun moments, yet it has twists and turns, and leads you into a world that engages you. A great fantasy novel for those days you want something easy to listen to, but with enough meat to the storyline to not be too boring or too cliched.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Narrator

What a difference a good narrator makes. Kristin Atherton really brought this book to life, so much better than the previous recording with Eyeore reading. Just a pity that it is the american version (women wearing men's underwear? underpants? really?)Great story, great plot, well formed character.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I Can't Recommend This Book

I read the reviews and thought, "this is right up my alley." Unfortunately, I have gotten through chapter 6 and simply can't listen to any more. The narrator is quite acceptable but the story has left me completely bored and I simply can't justify spending any more of my time on it. I would return it but, apparently, we can't return books simply because we can't finish them. So, I can only warn others and not spend my money on this series in the future.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • K
  • 11-01-22

It grew on me.

This book did not quite take me out of my comfort zone but it certainly took me down an unfamiliar cul-de-sac. I’ve read stories of the supernatural, magic, magical realism, historical crime…you get the idea, but I’d never read anything in the Steampunk line. And, all in all, it wasn’t unappealing. I will admit that it took me a while to warm to the style, simply because I found some of the narrative a bit consciously ‘ironic’. I didn’t understand why points of high tension were undercut with what seemed to me mistimed levity. It didn’t seem funny, merely facetious. Having said that, I totally acknowledge how subjective humour is — one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and all that… What I did discover was that the action and adventurous elements of the novel more than made up for my slight annoyance with the off-kilter tonal shifts.

The characterisation was strong. Irene and Kai are a strongly conceived pairing with sexual tension simmering between them from the outset. The mystery and detective elements were also well crafted, as was the moral dynamics surrounding the themes of honour and loyalty, trust and ambition. The world building was original enough for me to remain interested when normally the exposition demanded of the fantasy genre in this regard has me skim reading.

The novel and perhaps the Steampunk genre, as new as I am to it, seem to have the Young Adult market firmly in mind — both the language and content are definitely on the demure side. If I’m honest, it was a little too modest on the Irene and Kai intimacy front, if you ask me. Still, it’s jaunty enough for those longer in the tooth to enjoy too.

Suffice it to say that if you’d asked me a third of the way through the book if I’d read the sequel I’d have replied with a definite negation; ask me now that I’ve finished and the answer is a sincere affirmative.

Narrator was good too.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant story........

Well written. What an imagination. I read this book a long time ago and was hoping there would be more. Excellent writing.
And I am so glad they were re-recorded by Kristin Atherton. However much I enjoyed the story. I could not have listened to the person who recorded the earlier version.
Kristin is excellent. What a vocal range she has. And perfect intonation
The narration had a few too many pauses in the wrong places at first. But then she really relaxes into it. I am definitely a fan of Kristin’s reading.

Looking forward to the next book.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

At last

I'm so glad that this story has been re-released with a different narrator so I can finally enjoy it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Action filled Victorian steampunk

Fun, exciting and kind of sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lovely to find new fantasy books to listen to while renovating my home.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thanks God for the new narrator

Thanks God, they re-did the first audio with Kristin Atherton! It was so damn good!
I was totally immerged in the audio. The plot, the characters, the world-building. I ABSOLUTELY loved everything!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good original story.

loved it,plot was brilliant, didn't struggle to finesh,was gripped from start to finish, looking forward to the sequel's,kind regards mark William bailey.👍

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5 people found this helpful